KaisertheCoyote:They already have decent chemistry when Cesc is a midfielder and Neymar is a forward. Today though Barcelona was continuing the "Cesc as a False 9" experiment and it's just not working. Cesc works best when they let him roam and play as more or less a #10, otherwise he's less than fantastic for Barcelona in my opinion.

And I guess that I've seen Cesc in the false 9 role working well with Xavi but not as well now with Neymar. It's not an unfamiliar role, not with Cesc and not with Barcelona. While it hasn't looked fluid yet, I don't know that I'd pull the plug on a system that seemed to work fine under Pep. Maybe Martino doesn't see it the same way as Pep did.

Langston:KaisertheCoyote: They already have decent chemistry when Cesc is a midfielder and Neymar is a forward. Today though Barcelona was continuing the "Cesc as a False 9" experiment and it's just not working. Cesc works best when they let him roam and play as more or less a #10, otherwise he's less than fantastic for Barcelona in my opinion.

And I guess that I've seen Cesc in the false 9 role working well with Xavi but not as well now with Neymar. It's not an unfamiliar role, not with Cesc and not with Barcelona. While it hasn't looked fluid yet, I don't know that I'd pull the plug on a system that seemed to work fine under Pep. Maybe Martino doesn't see it the same way as Pep did.

Well obviously the False 9 isn't new for Barcelona, and Cesc plays it with the Spanish National Team but the Spanish National Team=/= Barcelona. (I'm sure I don't have to tell you that though.) Their styles are pretty different, despite popular belief.

I've never been particularly impressed with Cesc as a False 9 for Barcelona, and I'm generally an overall fan of the guy. But he works best when he can shift into sort of a pseudo #10 spot and switch places with Messi. The Xavi role was a disaster for Cesc, he lacks the patience for it. To be honest, aside from the first few months, I thought Cesc was terrible under Guardiola, especially when he was forced to be a winger after Villa's injury.

Basically, he works best when Ineista isn't on the pitch and Barca's formation can look a little like this in attack.

Basically Cesc plays further up than Iniesta, who likes to sit a little deeper. He's more of a natural #10 than Iniesta is, or any of Barcelona's other players barring Messi. (Who's the perfect False 9, so why use him in any other position?)

But Cesc and Neymar lacked any chemistry, and even though Cesc is an option at False 9 I think they would have been better off playing Neymar centrally and playing someone like Tello who is fast and will actually shoot the ball on the left. Cesc killed SO many attacks, it was ridiculous.

SmackLT:Gordon Bennett: Goddamnit Broony. Our captain needs to learn to keep his temper under control. Decent play from a ten man Celtic tonight and sheer class from Samaras.

It was a really soft red card. Maaaaybe a yellow, a warning would have been probably the most appropriate imho

Except the Celtic player deliberately kicked out at Neymar. Deliberately kicking or punching etc is automatic expulsion (regardless of theatrics). Ref had a good view of it, decided it was intentional and acted accordingly. Had he not kicked out he would have got a yellow for the foul on its own.

Celtic played for a draw and failed. Ironically they actually could have won except for one great save by Valdes and one wayward shot.

Just an FYI, DC United won the 100th US Open Cup for their 13th trophy, the highest total in all of MLS. They are currently in last place and had to travel to Salt Lake to take on one of the best in the league. A bit of a mirror of the FA Cup final in May with City losing 1-0 to Wigan. Same scoreline last night.

So happy for the guys and so much fun to watch. They also got a birth to the CONCACAF Champs League!

Like I have said before, the worst thing that can happen for Manchester City is that the draw happens and they have to play European matches.

What a game from Bayern. Total domination in the midfield. They played something close to a 4-3-3 with Mueller as a False 9 (which I would have deemed a failure if he hadn't scored that totally Mueller-esque goal). Lahm, Schweinsteiger, and Kroos were totally dominate in the midfield. I had some concerns about Yaya Toure being a box-to-box midfielder being able to use his size (seriously, Yaya looks like he eats an entire moose for breakfast) to brush past Lahm but it didn't work.

Kroos was MOTM for me. Kept the tempo of the game going smooth, his passes were gorgeous, and he acted like a CM/#10 depending. I also liked Schweinsteiger in a more attacking role.

Rafinhahahaha was great on the right, but Robben plays better with Lahm. When Martinez is fit, I want him in that holding mid/defensive role that Lahm is in now.

I was a bit concerned that Bayern really were not creating enough chances in the first half. Lots of midfield domination, but no actual decent shots or anything that looked like it could be a goal. But whenever City had the ball they attacked like Velociraptors with their pressing game and won the ball back. City were chasing shadows the whole time.

Too early to call, but this Bayern team are different enough from last season to win the title again.

Cheers man! Haha the secret is to talk and read way too much about soccer. I used to read lots of tactical analysis stuff and occasionally wrote for a couple websites. Got me in contact with lots of great writers who I still keep in contact with, weirdly enough mostly through Twitter. (Got it to promote articles.)